𝐀 𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐂𝐊'𝐒 𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 - Aladdin AU

٢٠ - friend

٢٠.

"I WON'T ENTER PARADISE AT ALL IF YOU aren't already there."

"Allah will have to put you there as well if He wants me there, because I will follow you everywhere, Burhan."

Dilruba Badawi of Hegra's eyes saw nothing through the blur of the tears in her eyes and the shocking pain of the build up of vicious emotion in her throat.

"I promise you will be my first and last, Burhan. I promise."

She fought angrily with herself, wiping at her tears in order to see clearly—in order to get through the task she was presently doing, her hands shaking terribly and her heart pounding in her ears as her breaths came shallow and rushed, her heart suffocating in its attempt to pump blood throughout her body.

A dark night had descended, and a sickle moon gleamed treacherously in the sky above the desert outside—like a sharp sword of the enemy, a solitary star nestled close to the milk of the moon-a star that oddly seemed to glow.. blue? Had this been her flat in Hegra, had Ahya been busy by her side—sorting through Dilruba's wardrobe with nimble fingers, had there been nothing on Dilruba's mind but her appointments to come, she would've sat on the ground on the carpet, her knees tucked underneath her, her face lifted to the window of her flat, eyes fixed on this moon and the strange blue glowing star, and sought for explanations in all of the poets she knew and their verses.

But this was not Hegra, she was not in her home flat, Ahya was presumed dead, and there was no space in her mind to contemplate a mere star.

Dilruba finished fastening Burhan's cloak onto her form, and as she covered her head with the black hood, her knees almost buckled with the scent of him infused in the material. She had to hold herself, keeping breathing and push adverse thoughts out of her head.

If she did not leave, she would lose herself. She would stay with Burhan and lose everything that she used to be and stood for in life—all for love of a man who spilled blood and did the bidding of warlocks and whoever who could buy him, whenever he deemed it necessary.

She gripped the sack—now a mere light weight thing containing only food and her jewelry that she had bought and worn for her cousin's wedding, Allah, that night seemed like it had been yesterday and a thousand years ago at the same time.

Dilruba hooked the sack to her elbow, and casting one last glance at Burhan's room—she shut her mind out to all opposing thoughts and pivoted to walk over towards the downfacing staircase, taking a soft breath and steeling herself as she began her ascent downwards, being careful to as lightly as she could.

Yunis and Ahud—twins of Yemeni descent with golden brown hair, the darkest skin Arabia had to offer in men, and thin brown eyes—had come upstairs with her breakfast earlier in the day after Burhan had left. Dilruba had met the men—part of Burhan Abelhamid's gang of swordfighters, killers and bandits—and they had been as respectful with her as Ghazi was. Their gazes had not left the ground at her feet when they had addressed her, as though they feared even looking at her would offend their Rayis and have them shirk their given orders.

They had been civil, and the food they had made had been so good—though Dilruba had lost taste for it and had eaten only some of it, wrapping the left over food into her tattered peacock ensemble dress which she washed and dried quickly for just the feat.

On her journey, she would need food, and she had no money for it. Her jewelry would only manage a little bit of her way, but there was no possibility of food unless she brought some along.

Both Yunis and Ahud had brought her lunch too, and then dinner which she had received four hours ago now. She had eaten what she could manage and then packed everything else into the sack that she carried, hoping that it would be enough to sustain her—to have her make it through the desert to the city of Hegra.